Hussey announces Test farewell

Updated December 30, 2012 00:57:22

Veteran Australia batsmen Michael Hussey has announced he will retire from Test cricket following the third Test against Sri Lanka starting at the SCG on Thursday.

The 37-year-old Hussey revealed his decision on Saturday, adding that he will play both one-day series against Sri Lanka and West Indies following the SCG Test.

He has scored 6,183 runs at an average of 51.52 from 78 Tests, his career including 19 centuries and 29 half-centuries.

Hussey has made 185 one-day international appearances, scoring 5,442 runs at 48.15, and he was an integral member of the Australia squad that won the 2007 World Cup in West Indies.

He says his decision is based on a desire to spend more time with his young family.

"I was quite excited to tell them (children) that I'm not going to go away and play for Australia any more," Hussey told the Nine Network.

"They were happy but not as excited as I thought they were going to be. So it was a bit of a shock."

Hussey says any Test match is a stressful experience, but next week could be different.

"I feel like I can come into this last Test match with no pressure whatsoever," he said.

"I can just really go out there and enjoy it."

Hussey's rise to the Test ranks did not come until late in his career, making his debut against West Indies in 2005 aged 30.

He made an inauspicious start with innings of 1 and 29 at the Gabba but posted back-to-back centuries in the following two Tests in Hobart and Adelaide.

His place in the Australia Test XI had come into question at various stages during the past three years but he has repaid the faith shown in him again this summer.

Hussey's recent form has been excellent and he is averaging 180.00 after two Tests in the current series against Sri Lanka with scores of 115 not out, 31 not out and 34 in Hobart and Melbourne.

He had earlier scored two centuries in last month's three-Test series against South Africa.

"I know how low I felt when my head was on the chopping block and I was probably one innings away from maybe being dropped from the team," Hussey said.

"It's not a nice place to be in. That's one thing about playing for Australia, there is always a lot stress and a lot of pressure to perform."

The Western Australian's departure places pressure on Australia's selectors to settle on a suitable batting line-up by the end of the India Test tour in February-March ahead of the Ashes series in England starting in July.

His retirement will also leave Australia with a significant leadership void, with the decision following that of former captain Ricky Ponting to retire last month.

The immediate playing future of vice-captain Shane Watson is also in doubt after he was ruled out of the SCG Test with a calf injury.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland says Hussey has been a true servant at the Test level.

"Michael Hussey has been a vital contributor to many Australian team wins over his very successful Test cricket career," he said in a statement.

"Affectionately known as 'Mr Cricket', he has always been thoroughly committed to meticulous preparation and the highest levels of physical fitness which have in turn delivered consistent performances in all forms of the game.

"An incredibly reliable player and leader within the Australian cricket team, Michael will retire from Test cricket with a record that puts him amongst the very best Australian batsmen of all time."

ABC/AAP

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First posted December 29, 2012 18:30:41

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Clarke dreams of farewell hundred for Punter

Updated November 30, 2012 10:33:19

Michael Clarke says he would love nothing more than for Ricky Ponting to score a big hundred in the Perth Test to help Australia return to the summit of world cricket, where the former captain helped it stay for so long.

Clarke got emotional when discussing Ponting's immense contribution to the Australian cricket team at the media call, but was able to put it into words when speaking to Grandstand shortly afterwards.

"He's an amazing player. He was an amazing captain, is a great friend and it's going to be tough to go into a Test match without him being there," Clarke told Grandstand.

"What a player he's been. He's been a great ambassador for the sport - not just for Australia but around the world.

"I'd love nothing more than to win this Test match, get back to being number one and for Ricky to get a big hundred. What a way for him to go out."

Australia sat atop the Test rankings from their inception in 2003 - after unofficially holding the number one crown since beating the West Indies in 1995 - until losing the Ashes series to England in 2009.

The team can return to the top for the first time since with a series-sealing victory against South Africa in Perth.

Ponting and Clarke have played together in all but five of the current skipper's 85 Tests.

Ironically, Ponting missed Clarke's first three Tests due to a broken thumb, when Adam Gilchrist led Australia to its first victory in India for 35 years.

After that, Ponting has only missed the fifth Test against England in 2011 due to a broken finger and the second Test against Sri Lanka later that year due to the birth of his second child, Matisse.

The pair have put on 2322 runs in partnership together, at an average of 68.29, including five centuries.

They currently stand as the 11th highest scoring partnership for Australia and will move into the top ten above David Boon and Allan Border if they put on 76 together at the WACA.

Perhaps most memorably the pair spent the best part of a day together in the middle last summer when Ponting returned to form with 134 and Clarke recorded his best ever score of 329 not out.

Tags: sport, cricket, wa, australia

First posted November 29, 2012 16:57:21

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England spoils Nitschke's farewell

Posted July 8, 2011 09:06:00

Australian veteran Shelley Nitschke has retired from international cricket after her side lost to host nation England by 34 runs in the final of the quadrangular one-day tournament in Wormsley.

Chasing a victory target of 231, Australia was dismissed for 196 in the 48th over with England's Katherine Brunt taking career-best figures of 5 for 18.

Nitschke, the reigning ICC women's player of the year and Australia's best international player for the past three years, was restricted to just 15 before falling to the in-form Brunt.

Australia had been in trouble at 3 for 33 before Alex Blackwell and Jess Cameron put on 41 for the fourth wicket.

Cameron (75) and Blackwell (34) tried their valiant best to save the Australian cause but the run-out of Jodie Fields (30) and removal of Clea Smith for a second-ball duck signalled the end.

Meanwhile India beat New Zealand by 32 runs to claim third place in the tournament.

Tags: sport, cricket, australia, united-kingdom, england

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Cricket greats join Jenner farewell

Updated May 31, 2011 21:22:00

Cricketing greats from across four decades have farewelled spin coach and former Test bowler Terry Jenner at a funeral in Adelaide, with Shane Warne declaring he owed his success to his mentor.

Warne told about 450 mourners at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday that Jenner was a character, and both cricket and life were better to have had him around.

He said Jenner had played a big part in both his personal and sporting lives, and saying goodbye recently was difficult.

"The last chat a few weeks ago was quite tough," Warne said.

"We didn't say a lot but we said enough.

"I just thanked him for everything he had helped me with. I wouldn't have been able to achieve without TJ."

Warne also served as a pallbearer at the funeral along with South Australian leg spinner Cullen Bailey.

Those to farewell Jenner included former batting great Doug Walters, Test wicketkeepers Rod Marsh and Ian Healy, and former Australian captains Ian and Greg Chappell.

Bailey told the gathering that he had first come under Jenner's influence at a coaching clinic when he was just 11.

"He was my coach, mentor, ally, friend and a father figure," Bailey said.

"No one knew or loved spin bowling like TJ."

The service was also read a message on behalf of the English Cricket Board (ECB), which described the 66-year-old as a great bloke as well as a great coach.

"TJ touched a great many people," the ECB said.

"His legacy will live on through the careers of the coaches and bowlers he inspired and influenced.

"It wasn't just his knowledge and his skills that we loved, it was his humour and his generosity, and his passion that he had for spin that came across in his coaching."

Jenner died last Wednesday after suffering a major heart attack last year.

He played nine Test matches for Australia in the 1970s but was best remembered as a spin bowling coach and most particularly for his union with Warne.

The partnership began in about 1990 and continued for the next two decades, and helped Jenner return to mainstream society after serving 18 months in jail for fraud in 1988-89.

Jenner, who said he stole money to pay gambling debts, is the only Australian Test cricketer to be jailed.

After his heart attack he was largely restricted to his Adelaide home, though he made an appearance at Adelaide Oval in October for a testimonial dinner.

-AAP

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First posted May 31, 2011 18:05:00

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Adelaide farewell for Terry Jenner

Posted May 31, 2011 06:47:00

Influential Australian cricket identity Terry Jenner will be farewelled at a funeral in Adelaide on Tuesday.

A host of cricket greats, including Shane Warne, will attend a service for Jenner at the Adelaide Oval.

Jenner, who died last Wednesday aged 66, played nine Test matches for Australia in the 1970s but is best remembered as a spin bowling coach.

His successful union with fellow leg spinner Warne helped Jenner return to mainstream society after serving 18 months in jail for fraud in 1988-89.

Jenner, who said he stole money to pay gambling debts, is the only Australian Test cricketer to be jailed.

The leg-spinning all-rounder suffered a major heart attack last year and had been restricted to his Adelaide home for some time.

Warne will deliver a eulogy at the evening funeral with other guests to include former Test captains Ian and Greg Chappell and Allan Border.

- AAP

Tags: sport, cricket, australia, sa, adelaide-5000

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